LAHORE: The 52nd Amateur Golf Championship of Pakistan will tee off at the par 72, Lahore Gymkhana Club Golf Course here on Thursday (today). The championship golf course is swarmed with champions from all over Pakistan and to challenge them are the top ones of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Sri Lanka.
The participants vying for honours and glory will tee off in ‘three ball flites’ in accordance with standard procedure and draws prepared by the tournament director. Opening flight comprises of Ghazanfar Mahmood (Pakistan), Mohammed Sajib Ali (Bangladesh) and HM Vijitha Bandra (Sri Lanka).
In accordance with the eligibility criteria for this championship only players with a handicap of seven and below can participate and one can foresee quality golf on all four days of the grand event. Of course the more established contenders are competitors who are in national reckoning and the Pakistan team members who fall in this category are Wasim Rana, Ghazanfar Mahmood, Mohsen Zafar, Mohammad Rehman. Wasim Rana and Ghazanfar Mehmood represent Pakistan A team and Mohsen Zafar and Mohammad Rehman are members of Pakistan B team. The team manager is Ahsen Janjua. Afghanistan team members are Ali Ahmed Fazal and Mohammed Omar Shafi with Mehmood Shah Qazidad as manager. Bangladesh team members are Mohammed Sagor, Mohammad Sajib Ali and Mohammad Lutfur Rahman (manager). Iran team members are Hassan Karimian Noshahr, Mehdi Mansoubshanjani and Mohammed Reza Hakimimani (manager). The Sri Lankan representation comes through MH Vijitha and Nambukara. The team manager is Ana Punchihewa.
During this championship, the events at stake are Men’s National Champion title, Women’s National Champion title, International Team Match and JR Jeyawardene Trophy. Another event that needs to be highlighted separately is the Inter Associations Team Match.
Association teams:
Federal: Wajid Ali, Mubariz Ahmed, Tariq Mehmood, Umer Khokhar and IN Khokhar (manager). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Naeem Khan, Inayatullah Yousafzai, Abdul Karim Bokhari, Saddique ur Rehman and Abdul Qayum (manager). Punjab: Asif Mehdi, Muhammad Rehman, Mohsen Zafar, Zulfiqar Ali and Muhammad Akram (manager). Sindh: Anser Mehmood, Muhammad Ali Hai, Waseem Rana, Zohaib Shah and Asad IA Khan (manager). From amongst the younger lot, those capable of causing a substantial dent in the chances of the seasoned ones are Mubariz Ahmed (Islamabad), Faisal Mir (Gujranwala), Salman Jehangir (Lahore Gymkhana) and Taimur Khan (Peshawar). Besides them the experienced ones in contention are Sardar Murad and Ali Hai. Sardar Murad looks determined to put up a great show and simply avoid the odd bad shot which cam mess up the march to winning. Amir Mehmood, the captain golf, stated that ample efforts had been put in by the organising team to prepare the golf course for this occasion. – Dailytimes
